Evil Dead Rise

Held back by the barest of standards (no spoilers but the kill count would’ve been higher if this wasn’t aiming to gross nine figures), this version of “Evil Dead” leans harder into the horror part of its formula but thankfully doesn’t discard the comedy. The callbacks and references were cool without feeling forced, much of the violence made me feel squeamish and uncomfortable (which is what I want out of this property), and everyone but the little kid turned in a good performance. I expected this to be decent and I liked most of it; I’d call that surpassing expectations.

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